– Hillary Clinton is running for president. I supported her last time and almost certainly will again this time, but I wish we had more of a primary. Also, I assume her website will get more fleshed out, but I would kind of like an issues page.

Received an email from my state senator explaining the differences between the house and the Senate proposals for the state budget.

Still the one thing that boggles my mind is how long Democrats have been in power in state government and how regressive the tax system became under them.

Even Tim Eyemans bill that threatens to cut sales tax is arguably more progressive then any tax reform state Democrats have proposed in 20-30 years. think just 4 years ago when the Democrats controlled the house, Senate and governors mansion that the now proposed capital gains tax could have easily been passed, but why wait until now to propose it?

Unfortunately it seems like the Democrats here are just Republican light, apparently a discussion about income tax isn’t even possible in this state from either side.

the problem with Democrats is that they are really good at getting their candidates elected, but really bad at holding them accountable to progressive ideas once in office. Who was in charge of budgeting that caused the McCleary gap? Who was in charge when sales tax was getting increase?

Federally it is clear that the Republicans bungle any good idea, but Statewide any and all problems have to be squarely blamed on Democrats, who have been running the whole show and even now havery control of the house and the governor. I wish all these cries about an unfair tax system from Democrats would have started a decade ago, when they controlled everything. It isn’t like the tax system in state got regressive overnight.

An interesting premise. Since business won’t do this willingly, I wonder if we can get republicans to support raising the minimum wage to save the government a bunch of money!

“Poverty wages cost U.S. taxpayers about $153 billion each year, according to a recent report from the University of California, Berkeley. That’s because, when families depend on low-wage jobs to survive, they’re forced to rely on government programs like Medicaid and food stamps to make ends meet. ”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....55202.html

Now that Hillary is running, you can stop holding your breath. I mean, what if she had bowed out, where would we be then? Jeb Bush would be our next president that’s where.

Nate Silver’s blog offers some interesting takes on what happens next. First, while Hillary may be the inevitable nominee, she’s not a shoo-in for November. Silver rates the 2016 presidential race a tossup.

Interestingly, Ben Carson is the only Republican whose positive approval ratings outscore his negative ratings, whereas 3 prominent Democrats (Obama, Hillary, and Warren) have net positive approval scores. Christie has by far the most negative ratings of any candidate on either side; he appears to have suffered real damage from his scandals and bully image, whether there’s evidence connecting him to “Bridgegate” or not.

What to make of all this? It’s still way too early to draw conclusions. I think Democrats should be cautious and not assume 2016 is a lock. As Silver points out in the last of the articles linked above, the “blue wall” of presumed Democratic electoral votes is more illusory than real. Those EVs could quickly turn red if Hillary or the economy stumbles, or the GOPers field a strong candidate. That would be Jeb. Possibly the most trenchant of this presidential campaign will be whether Republicans hold enough grudges against him to self-destruct. I wouldn’t count on it. In each of the last two elections, the GOP went with their most moderate candidates with the broadest appeal, not firebreathing ideologues. The people who call the shots in the GOP aren’t suicidal. That’s why, early on, Cruz will flame out and Rand Paul will get taken out. The GOP poobahs will test-drive Bush, Walker, and Rubio to see which of them can pull the most votes, and then lock up their nomination early so there are no distractions in the big match against Hillary. You can almost bet it’s going to be a Jeb-Hillary race.

@2 “how long Democrats have been in power in state government and how regressive the tax system became under them”

Easily explained by the fact Democrats have never had the supermajorities necessary to make major changes, and whenever activists tried to effect tax reform through the initiative process, the voters nixed it every time.

Goldy doesn’t like initiatives. A century ago, they were a major factor in the progressive reform era. Today, they’ve been hijacked by wingers bent on destroying government. So, Goldy’s dislike for them is understandable.

Goldy’s viewpoint gets some support from the lack of responsibility shown by Washington voters when they get a chance to participate in “direct democracy” by legislating via initiative. They have a habit of approving expensive mandates like smaller class sizes and refusing to pay for them in the same election. It’s America’s “something for nothing” mentality with a vengeance. You can’t, of course, run a government (or anything else) that way.

That mentality also helps perpetuate our unfair and dysfunctional tax system. People tolerate King County’s 9.6% sales tax rate because they figure someone else will pay it. They intend to get around it. There was a time when half the cars in Seattle residential neighborhoods had Oregon license plates. We saw a more recent example of this mentality when Seattle voters approved a monorail several times, then when the Legislature closed the loophole that allowed them to register their cars in the ‘burbs, they demanded a revote and killed it. They wanted a monorail, all right, as long as they didn’t have to pay for it.

This won’t work forever. At some point, you either pay taxes, or you don’t have schools, roads, parks and libraries, or public services. For now, the average Washington voter seems content with dumping the tax burden on the poor, and the poor seem unable to do much of anything about.

This isn’t a Democratic or Republican issue. It’s a human nature issue. It won’t be solved until our state gets a leader who has the guts to fight for tax reform and the skill to make the sale to a public hell-bent on making the other guy foot the bill.

@3 Contrary to conservative bloviating about “lazy” welfare recipients who won’t work, the bulk of government income assistance goes to working-poor families, and the reason they need it is because Republicans have been so successful at beating down wages. What a low minimum wage and government welfare really are is a gigantic handout to cheap-labor business owners. Taxpayers are subsidizing their labor costs so they can pocket more profit.

@7 Just another wingnut. Race has nothing to do with it. We differ with his policies on too many issues to go through them all here. He was wrong about opposing the stimulus, he’s wrong in supporting a balanced budget amendment, he’s wrong about wanting to cap federal budget growth at the inflation rate, he supports a flat rate income tax that would shift even more tax burden to working and middle class families, he voted against the Violence Against Women Act, he’s against equal rights for gay people, and on and on. He’s also a climate denier; it’s one thing to oppose debatable and controversial climate policies; it’s another for a non-scientist to go around saying the scientists are wrong.

Blackwater is one of those slimy companies that goes through multiple name changes to hide who they are. First they were Blackwater, then Xe, now Academi. This last one is a hoot. Sounds like a bunch of professors. Interesting choice of moniker for a gang of mercenaries. I’d like to see how their ad agency would rebrand Hell’s Angels or the Charles Manson Family. That should be entertaining.

Meanwhile, the 73-year-old Tulsa reserve cop who accidentally shot and killed a suspect will face manslaughter charges. What about the full-time cop who told the dying suspect, “F— your breath,” and refused to render CPR or first aid that might have saved his life? He’s at least as guilty, if not more so. What he did (and didn’t do) was no accident.

Please Donate

I appreciate feeling appreciated. Also, money.

Currency:

Amount:

Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?

Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!

Search HA

Follow Goldy

HA Commenting Policy

It may be hard to believe from the vile nature of the threads, but yes, we have a commenting policy. Comments containing libel, copyright violations, spam, blatant sock puppetry, and deliberate off-topic trolling are all strictly prohibited, and may be deleted on an entirely arbitrary, sporadic, and selective basis. And repeat offenders may be banned! This is my blog. Life isn’t fair.